148 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



August 



liberated by the bees in drawing out 

 foundation, etc., and thus such founda- 

 tion become a very dangerous source 

 of contagion. 



If our readers everywhere will kind- 

 ly let us have a brief and general re- 

 port of the season, it will give valu- 

 able and interesting information for 

 our next number. A postal card will 

 do. 



When receipting for our annual 

 dues, July i8, General Manager Secor, 

 Forest City, la., wrote as follows in 

 regard to the season in his section of 

 the country: "Basswood is just over, 

 and it was pretty good; but the hives 

 were so light when the flow began that 

 there will not be as much surplus as 

 there ought to be." 



As ft appears to us, nothing but un- 

 usually heavy importations of West In- 

 dian honey can prevent a decidedly 

 better condition of the extracted hon- 

 ey market during the coming winter. 

 Notwithstanding much that has been 

 written to the effect that West Indian 

 goods can cut but little if any figure 

 in our markets, these goods are large- 

 ly responsible for the present limited 

 demand for the home production. We 

 hope and look for an improvement in 

 the markets. 



one hundred colonies from native logs 

 and boxes. In March last twenty more 

 of these crude stocks were added to 

 the yard. From the first one hundred, 

 an average of two hundred pounds of 

 honey has been extracted, and the yard 

 now has three hundred and twenty-four 

 working colonies. Foul brood is re- 

 ported to be not so bad in that sec- 

 tion as it is said to be in other portions 

 of the island. 



Our old friend, E. M. Storer, who 

 has contributed an occasional letter to 

 these columns in the past, from Georg- 

 ia, Florida and Jamaica, has turned up 

 again — this time at Bermeja, Cuba. Mr. 

 Storer finds Cuba to be an excellent 

 country for honey.jproduction, but the 

 low prices prevailing at present for Cu- 

 ban honey are not at all encouraging. 

 In the employ of a Matanzas firm, op- 

 erating about two thousand colonies, 

 Mr. Storer last September transferred 



From Dr. Miller's explanation, in 

 this number, it will be seen that it was 

 not the nonrobbing propensities of tfie 

 Italians, but, rather their vigilant qual- 

 ities in protecting themselves against 

 robbers, which gave rise to liis dh- 

 servations upon this subject, as quoted 

 on page 129, July number. TBe doc- 

 tor's explanation is entirely satisfac- 

 tory even though it may suggest some- 

 thing approaching stupidity upon the 

 part of his commentator. However, it 

 may not be amiss to state, in this con- 

 nection, that the word "Italian'' is too 

 broad and sweeping to be satisfactorily 

 explicit. Especially of some strains of 

 the golden varieties, it may safely T)e 

 said that they are most persistent rob- 

 bers; while some of those more nearly 

 related to imported stock are much less 

 determined in their marauding tenden- 

 cies; and, we think, sometimes hardly 

 more vigilant in guarding their hives 

 than ordinary German stock. Continued 

 breeding in this countrj', for color, or 

 other points, generation after genera- 

 tion, for years, has changed to a large 

 extent other original traits, as well, 

 though they are still on the "Italian" 

 list. There are Italians and Italians. 

 Some display marked traits of charact- 

 er quite opposite to those possessed by 

 others; and it is not improbable 

 that traits well defined and quite uni- 

 form', existing in 1870, have now be- 

 come uncertain. 



